"The Wind and the Waves are Always on the side of the Ablest Navigators." – Edward Gibbon

Tag Archives: Ben-Gurion University

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University (BGU) and the Sheba Medical Center have developed a new therapy to treat atherosclerosis and prevent heart failure with a new biomedical polymer that reduces arterial plaque and inflammation in the cardiovascular system.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease causes 56 million deaths annually worldwide, according to the 2015 Lancet Global Burden of Disease Report. Arteries are lined by a thin layer of cells called the “endothelium” which keep them toned and smooth and maintain blood flow. Atherosclerosis begins with damage to the endothelium and is caused by high blood pressure, smoking or high cholesterol. The resulting damage leads to plaque formation.

When endothelial cells experience inflammation, they produce a molecule called “E-selectin,” which brings white blood cells (monocytes) to the area and causes plaque accumulation in the arteries.

This innovative nano-polymer has several advantages. First, it targets only damaged tissue and does not harm healthy tissue. At present, there are several available treatment options for atherosclerosis, but no other therapy reverses arterial damage and improves the heart muscle. Lastly, the polymer has no side effects, unlike statins, which are currently the leading medication used for treating atherosclerosis.

Patented and in preclinical stage, the new polymer has been tested on mice with positive results. In a study that has been submitted for publication, the researchers treated atherosclerotic mice with four injections of the new biomedical polymer and tested the change in their arteries after four weeks. “We were stunned by the results,” says Prof. David. “The myocardial function of the treated mice was greatly improved, there was less inflammation and a significant decrease in the thickness of the arteries.”

Prof. David and collaborator Prof. Jonathan Leor, director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute of the Sheba Medical Center and professor of cardiology at Tel Aviv University, suggest that this polymer-based therapy can also be helpful to people with diabetes, hypertension and other age-related conditions. “As such, the new polymeric therapy may have life-changing benefits for millions of people,” the researchers say.

“This is unprecedented,” says Prof. Leor. “We achieved an adherence level similar to that of an antibody, which may explain the strong beneficial effect we observed.”

“We are now seeking a pharmaceutical company to bring our polymer therapy through the next stages of drug development and ultimately to market,” says Dr. Ora Horovitz, senior vice president of business development at BGN Technologies (BGN). BGU’s technology transfer and commercialization company. “We believe that this therapy has the potential to help a great number of people.”

Current membrane filtration methods require intensive energy to adequately remove pathogenic viruses without using chemicals like chlorine, which can contaminate the water with disinfection byproducts. Researchers at UIUC and BGU collaborated on the new approach for virus pathogen removal, which was published in the current issue of Water Research.

“This is an urgent matter of public safety,” the researchers say. “Insufficient removal of human Adenovirus in municipal wastewater, for example, has been detected as a contaminant in U.S. drinking water sources, including the Great Lakes and worldwide.”

The norovirus, which can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, is the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis in humans, and is estimated to be the second leading cause of gastroenteritis-associated mortality. Human adenoviruses can cause a wide range of illnesses that include the common cold, sore throat (pharyngitis), bronchitis, pneumonia, diarrhea, pink eye (conjunctivitis), fever, bladder inflammation or infection (cystitis), inflammation of the stomach and intestines (gastroenteritis), and neurological disease.

In the study, Prof. Moshe Herzberg of the Department of Desalination and Water Treatment in the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at BGU and his group grafted a special hydrogel coating onto a commercial ultrafiltration membrane. The “zwitterionic polymer hydrogel” repels the viruses from approaching and passing through the membrane. It contains both positive and negative charges and improves efficiency by weakening virus accumulation on the modified filter surface. The result was a significantly higher rate of removal of waterborne viruses, including human norovirus and adenovirus.

“Utilizing a simple graft-polymerization of commercialized membranes to make virus removal more comprehensive is a promising development for controlling filtration of pathogens in potable water reuse,” says Prof. Nguyen, Department of Chemical Engineering, UIUC.

(Nanowerk News) Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have developed an innovative process to convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen into a renewable alternative for crude oil, which could transform fuels used in gas and diesel-powered vehicles and jets.

The “green feed” crude oil can be refined into renewable liquid fuels using established technologies and can be transported using existing infrastructure to gas stations. The highly efficient advance is made possible in part using nanomaterials that significantly reduce the amount of energy required in the catalytic process to make the crude oil.

“We can now use zero cost resources, carbon dioxide, water, energy from the sun, and combine them to get real fuels,” said BGU’s Prof. Moti Hershkowitz, presenting the new renewable fuel process at the Bloomberg Fuel Choices Summit in Tel Aviv on November 13. Carbon dioxide and hydrogen are two of the most common elements available on earth.

“BGU has filed the patents and we are ready to demonstrate and commercialize it,” Hershkowitz says. “Since there are no foreseen technological barriers, the new process could become a reality within five to10 years,” he adds.

The BGU crude oil process produces hydrogen from water, which is mixed with carbon dioxide captured from external sources and synthetic gas (syngas). This green feed mixture is placed into a reactor that contains a nano-structured solid catalyst, also developed at BGU, to produce an organic liquid and gas.

Prof. Moti Herskowitz is the Israel Cohen Chair in Chemical Engineering and the vice president and dean of research and development at BGU. He led the team that also includes Prof. Miron Landau, Dr. Roxana Vidruk and others at BGU’s Blechner Center for Industrial Catalysis and Process Development.

The Blechner Center, founded in 1995, has the infrastructure and expertise required to deal with a wide variety of challenging topics related to basic and applied aspects of catalysis and catalytic processes. This was accomplished with major funding from various sources that include science foundations, industrial partners and individual donors such as the lateNorbert Blechner. Researchers at the Blechner Center have also developed a novel process for converting vegetable and algae oils to advanced green diesel and jet fuels, as well as a novel process for producing zero-sulfur diesel.

“Ben-Gurion University’s Blechner Center has been at the forefront of alternative fuel research and development, working with major American oil and automotive companies for more than 20 years,” says Doron Krakow, executive vice president, American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. “We applaud these new developments and BGU’s focus on giving the world new technologies for more efficient, renewable fuel alternatives.”